Liquid dispensing device



72 Sheets-Sheet l Z3 M J05: SQNCH/S 4 7 TOR/V5 45 Dec. 21, 1943. J. SANCHIS LIQUID DISPENSING DEVICE Filed Nov. 10, 1941 Dec. 21, 1943. J. SANCHIS 2,337,276

LIQUID DISPENSING DEVICE Filed Nov. 10, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Q A M M Q S m r i i mum/WM 5 m M ,2, m T 1 A :i1 5 WA m W a K xii i a Fifi-11 Q Patented Dec. 21, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Claims.

This invention relates to a liquid dispensing device and refers more particularly to a closure for containers, which is provided with a valve or faucet device automatically delivering uniform quantities of a liquid to receptacles or the same size.

An object of the present invention is the provision of a liquid dispensing device which may be conveniently mounted upon a cap or other closure of a. container and which can be easily operated to dispense a certain amount of liquid.

Another object is the provision of a dispenser which may be used in bars, restaurants. laboratories and the like and which may be placed upon bottles or Jars for automatically supplying the same amounts of liquid to glasses or other containers of uniform size.

Other objects of the present invention will become apparent from the tollowing specification.

In accomplishing the objects of the present invention it was found desirable to provide a cap or similar closure member with an elongated outwardly extending tube serving as or carrying a guide for a valve rod projecting outwardly beyond the tube and connected with a spring loaded valve body adapted to interrupt the communication between the tube and the interior of the container carrying the closure member.

In operation, the valve rod is pressed against the bottom or a glass or other vessel into which the liquid is to be poured, thereby compressing the spring and raising the valve body from its seat upon the tube. I1 the container is placed upside down over the glass and it the closure member of the container is provided with an air vent, liquid will flow from the container and into the glass. Actual experiments which I have carried out. show that this flow of liquid will stop after the liquid has reached a certain level in the glass and that the amount of the dispensed liquid is the same whenever a glass of the same size is used.

The invention will appear more clearly from the following detailed description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings showing. by way of example, preferred embodiments 0! the inventive idea.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 shows in side elevation a container the cap oi which is provided with a dispensing device constructed in accordance with the principles oi. the present invention.

Figure 2 shows the dispensing device in longitudinal section. on an enlarged scale.

Figure 3 is a transverse section along the line 1-8 of Figure 2, on an enlarged scale.

Figure 4 illustrates the operation of the dispensing device.

Figure 5 shows in side elevation a container the cap of which is provided with a dispensing device of a somewhat diilerent construction.

Figure 6 is a longitudinal section through the dispensing device shown in Figure 5.

Figure '1 illustrates the operation oi the dispensing device shown in Figures 5 and 6.

The dispensing device shown in Figures 1 to 4 of the drawings is carried by a cap It which is provided with screw threads Ii and which may be screwed upon the neck I! of a bottle II.

The cap Ill carries a tube It which is firmly connected with the cap or is integral therewith. The tube ll extends on both sides of the cap II and its axis may coincide with the longitudinal axis of the bottle.

The tube It has a comparatively long portion which extends outwardly beyond the cap ill and which is provided with two inner webs l5 and i8 constituting guides for a valve rod II.

The web it is shown in detail in Figure 3 of the drawings and it includes a central sleeve ll embracing the rod i1 and connected to the tube It by web portions i9 and Ill. Passages 2i and 22 on opposite sides 01' the? web it connect the 7 interior 23 of the tube II with the outside space.

The web it which is situated further inside the tube H, is of the same shape as the web It.

That portion or the tube It which is situated within the bottle neck I2, is provided with outer screw threads II and has conical end surfaces constituting a valve seat 25.

A spring support 26 has a nut or sleeve 11 which is provided with inner screw threads and which is screwed upon the threaded end of the tube It. A wall or web 28 connects the sleeve 2] with a plate 29 the inner suriace ofv which has an annular ridge t0 enclosing one end of a coiled spring ii. The spring II embraces the valve rod H which extends through an opening provided in the plate 28.

The inner end of the valve rod l1 extends beyond the support It. The outer end 82 of the valve rod ll extends to a comparatively great distance beyond the outer end of the tube It and may have the form of a ball. A stop It is firmly mounted upon the valve rod il between its end I! and the web It. As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the stop 33 is situated at a distance from the web it when a valve body It is seated upon the valve seat 2!. Figure 4 shows that the engagement oi the stop 33 with the web it limits the extent of the inward movement 01' the rod i The valve body it is screwed upon a threaded portion of the rodl I and is held firmly thereon by a nut I! screwed upon the rod I1 and engaging the smaller end surface 01' the conical valve body 34. The opposite surface of the valve body It has a recessed portion 38 (Fig. 2) receiving an end of the coiled spring 3 I.

The cap H) is provided with a small opening 11 constituting the air vent. The cross-sections of the air vent II, the liquid-transmitting tube It and the length of the rod l1 extending beyond the outer end of the liquid transmitting tube It being of such size relatively to each other that the entrance of air through the air vent I1 and hence the dispensing of liquid through the liquid transmitting tube ll while the valve seat 25 is kept open, ceases when the dispensed liquid reaches a predetermined level relatively to the discharge end ii of the tube It.

When no external pressure is exerted upon the rod ii, the valve body 34 is pressed against the seat 25 by the spring 3|, so that there is no communication between the interior 38 of the bottle II and the interior 23 of the tube It.

In order to dispense a certain amount of liquid contained in the bottle it, the bottle i3 is placed upside down over a glass 39 or any other vessel into which liquid is to be poured, and the end 32 of the rod i1 is pressed against the bottom 40 ot the glass. This pressure causes the rod H to move inwardly, thereby raising the valve body it off the valve seat 25 and compressing the spring ll, until the stop I! strikes the web iii of the tube II.

The air vent opens at a point below the minimum level of the liquid in the supply container. Actual experiments which I have carried out show that the flow of liquid from the bottle 13 into the glass 38 will stop as soon as the liquid has reached a certain level in the glass 39 and that the amount of the dispensed liquid is the same whenever a glass 38 of the same size is used. This may be explained by the fact that the water column above the discharge end I5 01' the tube It balances the water column within the tube It and container it to such an extent that the friction which the air entering through the vent 31 has to overcome, can no longer be overcome by the buoyancy oi the entering air. Consequently, the vacuum built up over the liquid level in the container I! by the discharge of liquid from the container is no longer equalized by the admission of new air through the air vent. Hence the outside liquid column will balance the inner liquid column. Thus the described dispensing device may be conveniently used in bars, restaurants. laboratories and similar establishments wherein the same amounts of liquid are often dispensed into vessels of uniform size.

The amount 01 the dispensed liquid may be varied by varying the length of the projecting portion of the rod ll or the position of the valve body It upon the rod.

The dispensing device illustrated in Figures 5 to 7 includes a tube 50 mounted upon a cap 5| which is screwed upon the neck of a bottle 52. Webs $8 and it constitute guides for a valve rod II carrying a valve body it. A spring t1 presses the valve body it against the inner end 0! the tube 80 and is engaged by a support 58 which is screwed upon the inner end 01' the tube II. The inward movement of the rod It is limited by a stop 59.

The cap ll carries an elastic sealing ring I. which is interposed between the bottle neck and the cap, while another elastic sealing ring OI isa situated between the cap BI and the support 5 In this construction, the air vent is constituted by an elbow tube or U-shaped tube 62 having a threaded end 63 which extends through the cap 5| and which is held in place by a nut 84 screwed upon the tube end 83.

This device operates in the same manner as the one previously described. The elbow pipe 62 is preferably situated outside of the glass 65 while the liquid is being poured, thereby facilitating the dispensing of exact amounts of the liquid.

It is apparent that the specific illustration shown above has been given by way of illustration and not by way of limitation, and that the structures above described are subject to wide variation and modification without departing from the scope or intent of the invention; all of such variations and modifications are to be ineluded within the scop of the present invention.

What is claimed is:

l. A liquid dispensing device, comprising in combination with a closure member for closing a container containing liquid .to be dispensed, said closure member having an air vent formed therein an opening into said container below the minimum liquid level in said container, a liquidtransmitting tube carried by said closure member within said opening and extending outwardly beyond said closure member and inwardly within said container, said tube being of substantially the same diameter and devoid of perforations throughout its length and having an inner end located within the container and constituting a valve seat, a movable rod extending through said tube and beyond the inner and outer ends thereof, a valve body firmly mounted upon said rod, and resilient means pressing said valve body against said valve seat, the cross-sections 0! said air vent and liquid transmitting tube and the length oi said rod extending beyond the outer end of said liquid transmitting tube being constructed of a predetermined size to cut oil the flow 0! liquid through said transmitting tube when the dispensed liquid received in a glass within which the outwardly projecting portion of the transmitting tube is placed reaches a predetermined height intermediate the ends of said outwardly projecting portion.

2. A liquid dispensing device, comprising in combination with a closure member for closing a container containing liquid to be dispensed, said closure member having an air vent formed therein an openinginto said container below the minimum liquid level in said container, a liquidtransmitting tube carried by said closure member within said opening and extending outwardly beyond said closure member and inwardly within said container, the inner end 0! said tube constituting a valve seat, a movable rod extending through said tube and beyond the inner and outer ends thereof, at least one rod guide comprising a sleeve enclosing said rod and web portions connected with said sleeve and said tube and maintaining said sleeve within said tube. a valve body firmly mounted upon said rod, and resilient means pressing said valve body against ass-1,270 3 said valve seat, the cross-sections of said air vent and liquid transmitting tube and the length of said rod extending beyond the outer end of said liquid transmitting tube being constructed of a predetermined size to cut of! the flow of liquid through said transmitting tube'when the dispensed liquid received in a glass within which the outwardly projecting portion of the transmitting tube is placed reaches a predetermined height intermediate the ends of said outwardly projecting portion.

3. A liquid dispensing device, comprising in combination with a closure member for closing a container containing liquid to be dispensed, said closure member having an air vent iormed therein an opening into said container below the minimum liquid level in said container, a liquidtransmitting tube carried by said closure member within said opening and extending outwardly beyond said closure member and inwardly within said container, the inner end of said tube constituting a valve seat, a movable rod extending through said tube and beyond the inner and outer ends thereof, a rod guide situated at the outer end of the tube. another rod guide situated within the tube, each of said rod guides comprising a sleeve enclosing said rod and web portions connected with said sleeve and said tube and maintaining said sleeve within said tube; a valve body iirmly mounted upon said rod, resilient means pressing said valve body against said valve seat, and a stop ilrmly mounted upon said rod and adapted to engage the first-mentioned rod guide to limit the inward valve-raising movement of said rod, the cross-sections of said air vent and liquid transmitting tube and the length of said rod extending beyond the outer end oi said liquid transmitting tube being constructed oi. a predetermined size to cut oil! the flow oi liquid through said transmitting tube when the dispensed liquid received in a glass within which the outwardly projecting portion of the transmitting tube is placed reaches a predetermined height intermediate the ends of said outwardly projecting portion.

4. A liquid dispensing device. comprising in combination with a closure member ior closing a container containing liquid to be dispensed, said closure member having an air vent formed therein an opening into said container below the minimum liquid level in said eontainena liquidtrausmitting tube carried by said closure meal her within said opening and extending outwardly beyond said closure member and inwardly within said container. the inner end of said tube constituting a valve seat. a movable rod extending through said tube and beyond the inner and outer ends thereof, a valve body firmly mounted upon said red, the inner end of said tube being threaded, a support having a nut-like member screwed upon said inner end of the tube, a plate enclosing said rod and means connecting said nut-like member with said plate; and a coiled spring surrounding said rod and having one end engaging said valve body and another end engaging the plate of said support, the cross-sections of said air vent and liquid transmitting tube and the length oi said rod extending beyond the outer end of said liquid transmitting tube being constructed of a predetermined size to cut oil! the iiow oi liquid through said transmitting tube when the dispensed liquid received in a glass within which the outwardly projecting portion of the transmitting tube is placed reaches a predetermined height intermediate the ends of said outwardly projecting portion.

5. A liquid dispensing device, comprising in combination with a closure member for closing a container containing liquid to be dispensed and a U-shaped tubular member extending through said closure member and carried thereby, said tubular member constituting an air vent an opening into said container below the minimum liquid level in said container; a liquid-transmitting tube carried by said closure member within said opening and extending outwardly beyond said closure member and inwardly within said container, the inner end of said tube constituting a valve seat. a movable rod extending through said tube and beyond the inner and outer ends thereof. a valve body firmly mounted upon said rod, and resilient means pressing said valve body against said valve seat, the crosssections of said air vent and liquid transmitting tube and the length of said rod extending beyond the outer end 01' said liquid transmitting tube being constructed 01' a predetermined size to cut oil the flow of liquid through said transmitting tube when the dispensed liquid received in a glass within which the outwardly projecting portion 01' the transmitting tube is placed reaches a predetermined height intermediate the ends 01 said outwardly projecting portion.

JOSE BANCHIB. 

